TEDxUCincinnati

Ideas worth spreading in the local community and beyond.

"Off The Record" is TEDxUCincinnati's sixth annual mainstage event and the following pieces focus on creating an engaging experience leading up to the event and day of for the audience, speakers, those behind the scenes, and organizers.

2019–2020
Director of Design

  • Branding + Strategy
  • Visual Identity
  • Creative + Art Direction
  • Storytelling
  • Content Creation

Background

TEDx is a grassroots initiative and nonprofit created in the spirit of TED's overall mission to research, discover, and share with others ideas worth spreading.

As the director of design, I was responsible for the creative and art direction of the event. In the design team of 3, I managed strategy, timeline, and correspondence with the venue, along with leading the design and production of all deliverables. This included marketing efforts to the public, the visual experience for the day of, and materials for curation process of speaker slides.

To create an experience that appealed to the community, a daring theme, Off The Record, was chosen to spark curiosity and challenge the norms. For the visuals and branding, we decided to go against the grain (and, in a sense, off the record) from the traditional TEDx designs that tend to be very geometric, with few colors and red being the focus.

Theme

“Off the Record,” serves to uncover what is typically unseen, discover what may appear to be the unknown, and tap into knowledge that has not been previously explored.

It creates an opportunity to discuss the hidden nature of topics in our society, further promoting the idea that just because something is out of sight does not mean it is nonexistent. There are rules that are spoken but unwritten, ideas considered but unpublished, scenes filmed but unedited. Off the Record inspires speakers and attendees to explore and define that area between what happened and what is recorded. Off the Record will serve to educate our audience, inspire them to practice mindfulness and awareness, and empower them to dive into the unknown to reveal the “hidden”.